@instinctlion
It's hard but not impossible to set up a little banner and fairy lights around their shared apartment. With Keith preoccupied and leaving at all hours, Lance had been able to pull together bits and pieces of a decent decor and hide them in such a way that set up would be nothing more than fifteen minutes. The trickiest part of it all was the presents.
Not one to let his friend go unappreciated, Lance spent most of his time leading up to the birthday picking up items he thought the other might like. Keith was a practical man, and Lance sought appropriate gifts. A few new shirts, black of course, although one did have an temperature sensitive flame effect at the cuff of each long sleeve, a small all purpose knife, a sturdy case for his phone, and, Lance indulged, some Swiss chocolates and a small panther plush. They each sat next to a covered cake, the frosting uneven and amateur but lovingly set with shaky cursive: Happy Birthday, Keith
Now to wait for the other's return.
Lance sat down for a moment, but sleep soon came from exhaustion, and he slumped forward before he'd finished settling down on the sofa, a single long box in his hands, not yet wrapped.
